Blocking Goodness

I am forever surprised by how much difference a bit of water and a few pins make on knitted objects. I just finished blocking a sweater made of Brown Sheep Company Cotton Fleece, which is a mixture of cotton and wool. While knitting the pieces, they curled horribly, and I worried that the cotton content of the yarn might make them immune to blocking. A tub of water, hundreds of pins, and two days later, the pieces not only took the blocking beautifully, they have actually been sewn together, and are simply waiting for the almost-finished cable trim to be completely ready for wear.

The Empress, two days later, is still trying to dry out her hair. Here's hoping that when she's all dry, she'll be even more lovely.

Of course, being the bad blogger I am, I completely forgot to take pictures of any of this. Seriously, I'm starting to think that the greats (Yarn Harlot, Kristi and Cookie) have someone following them around at all times taking pictures of their knitting. I'm especially impressed whenever I see pictures of swatching in progress - I'm usually so caught up in it that it's not until after the five [frogged] swatches and an inch of the real product that I think to myself, "Huh, I bet that process would have been great documented for the blog..."

To make up for the complete lack of presence or pictures on this blog, I give you a picture of the hat I made for my friend:


She commissioned it from me by saying, "Elisabeth, I want a hat. It has to have a large pom-pom, and I want it in these colors [pointing to her store-bought faux fair isle pink, orange, and red socks]"

This is what I came up with. Completely my own design (although I'm sure it's been done before, knitting having the history it does...). If there's enough interest, I'll write up a pattern and post it.

Ciao, darlings!